Quiz: Can You Name the Supervillain from a One-Sentence Description?: HowStuffWorks

Can You Name the Supervillain from a One-Sentence Description?

ENTERTAINMENT

By: John Miller

5 Min Quiz

Image: ‎20th Century Fox

About This Quiz

In the past 100 years, pop culture has conjured countless memorable villains. From movies to comic books, these evil-minded guys and gals are the antagonists that give our heroes something -- and someone -- to fight.

Some baddies, however, take their sinister plots too far. They are the supervillains, the empathy-free horrors who stalk our worst nightmares. In this quiz, if we give you a one-line description, do you think you can name these ultimate supervillains?

It’s easy to name some of the greatest heroes of recent decades. Think Luke Skywalker, Indiana Jones, Superman, James Bond and John McClane. But none of these characters would embark on their legendary adventures unless they faced the darkest of foes. That’s why writers develop the nasty folks like Loki, T-1000, Keyser Soze and Gollum.

Sometimes, the bad guys have an understandable reason for their socially unacceptable actions. Other times, they seem to embrace evil for the sake of bloody good fun. Do you really think you know the worst of the worst supervillains in books and movies alike?

Will you wield the red light saber or the green? Can you let the One Ring perish in the magma, or will you use it to lord over your neighbors? Let’s see if you really know your supervillains in this kryptonite-laced quiz!

He's Batman's archnemesis … and he loves lipstick.

Superman

The Joker

Venom

The Joker has tormented Batman since the 1940s. His evil grin and malice (and lipstick) make him one of the most recognizable supervillains ever.

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Sometimes he uses the Force to choke people to death.

Sabretooth

Ultron

Darth Vader

With his rasping breath and black helmet, Darth Vader is one of the universe's most enduring supervillains. He uses the Force for evil instead of good.

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He's a mutant who wields magnetic fields as weapons. Who is he?

Bane

Mystique

Magneto

Max Eisenhardt is better known as Magneto, a mutant who believes that he and his kind are superior to normal humans. His control of magnetic fields is impressive … and dangerous.

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He wears a top hat and tuxedo when he's making Batman's life miserable.

Thanos

Doctor Blight

The Penguin

He's been part of the Injustice League, and he often wears a monocle while causing mayhem. He's The Penguin, a guy who preens like a gentleman while executing evil plots.

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He's one of Superman's archenemies, and he appeared in the first two "Superman" movies.

General Zod

Darkseid

Genocide

He first appeared in 1960s comic books, but General Zod's evil character expanded into other media, too, like blockbuster movies. He's been a thorn in Superman's side since day one.

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She has yellow eyes, blue skin … and a bad attitude.

Inferno

Blackfire

Mystique

She started the Brotherhood of Mutants and has almost always served evil instead of good. She's Mystique, a shapeshifter who fights against the X-Men.

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He's a cannibalistic serial killer who terrifies Clarice Starling.

Ra’s al Ghul

Agent Smith

Hannibal Lecter

With his intellectual brilliance and utter lack of empathy, Hannibal Lecter made "The Silence of the Lambs" one of the scariest movies of all time. He gives FBI agent Clarice Starling all she can handle.

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He's Superman's greatest enemy.

Lex Luthor

Red Skull

Batman

Since 1940, he's been tormenting Superman. He's Lex Luthor, the wealthy evil mastermind who always finds new ways to make Superman's life less than super.

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He's the maniacal despot on the planet Apokolips.

The Joker

Lex Luther

Darkseid

With his rippling muscles and terrifying scowl, Darkseid ruthlessly rules Apokolips. In the end, he seeks to dominate the entire universe.

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He's Otto Gunther Octavius, but he's better known by his supervillain name.

The Penguin

Hela

Doctor Octopus

He's the maddest of all mad scientists. Otto Octavius is Doctor Octopus, who uses his terrifying metal appendages to attack his enemies.

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He's a Frost Giant who often opposes Thor.

Loki

Gorilla Grodd

Venom

Based on Norse god with awesome powers, Loki is frequently drawn as an antihero, one who scraps with Thor. He first appeared in comic in the early '60s.

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In the 1990s, she became the The Joker's lover.

Phantasm

Terra

Harley Quinn

Introduced in the 1990s as a svelte and malicious supervillain, Harley Quinn became The Joker's lover. In later days, she came to rethink her positions on good and evil.

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He calls himself the "Master of Fear" and subjects his victims to weird drugs and psychological ploys to conjure terror.

Scarecrow

Mystique

Volcana

With his background in psychology, he knows how to scare people. He's the Scarecrow, the "Master of Fear," and Batman will do anything to stop his reign of terror.

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Her real name is Pamela Lillian Isley, and she's an eco-terrorist who has confounded Batman for many years.

Poison Ivy

Hyena

Fright

Her birth name is Pamela, but everyone knows her as Poison Ivy. She's an eco-terrorist who takes things too far, and Batman has to apply herbicide to her antics once in a while.

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This supervillain can absorb the powers -- including superpowers -- of other beings.

Parasite

Kingpin

Doctor Doom

Parasite's usual superpower involves absorbing the abilities of other beings. This absorption capability is so devious it even works against superheroes.

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He is a Titanian Eternal, and he can harness tremendous cosmic energy for his evil plans.

Mephisto

Red Skull

Thanos

Thanos has appeared in numerous recent "Avengers" movies, using his cosmic powers in nefarious plans … like kiling many of the universe's inhabitants to reduce what he sees as overpopulation.

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He's an evil Kryptonian who has amazing hand-to-hand combat abilities.

Leather

Indigo

General Zod

General Zod, from from the planet Krypton, knows all of Superman's vulnerabilities. He's also excellent fighter, in some ways superior to Superman in hand-to-hand combat.

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This character is one of the New Gods and uses Omega Beams to take down victims.

Catwoman

Darkseid

Black Panther

Darkseid blasts Omega Beams right from his big, bad eyeballs, essentially obliterating anything -- or anyone -- who gets in his way. The Justice League is often helpless to stop him.

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He's a bald-headed brainiac and he was once elected as President of the United States.

Mirage

Silver Banshee

Lex Luthor

Lex Luthor is no ordinary supervillain -- is some ways he is the ultimate bad guy. With his bald pate and incredible intelligence, he's managed to put even Superman on the ropes, time and again.

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Before he became a mutant villain, he survived the Nazi Holocaust. Who is he?

Roulette

Loki

Magneto

In his formative years, Magneto was just Max Eisenhardt … but then he was exposed to the Holocaust. Later, he developed superpowers that allowed him to control magnetic fields, but he didn't always use his powers for good.

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Captured by the Soviets in WWII, Bucky Barnes was reconditioned to become this foe of Captain America.

Bane

The Vulture

Winter Soldier

With his bionic arm and assassination skills, the Winter Soldier is a formidable enemy of Captain America. When he's not out causing mayhem, Soviet officials keep him in deep freeze.

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He's Sheev Palpatine, also known as ______, and he uses blue Force lightning to torture Luke Skywalker.

Galatea

Tommy DeVito

The Emperor

Sheev Palpatine is The Emperor in "Star Wars," and he mercilessly brutalizes his victims with blue Force lightning in "Return of the Jedi."

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She always seems to wear green, and she's a sometimes lover of Harley Quinn.

Doctor Doom

Ra’s al Ghul

Poison Ivy

Poison Ivy loves plants ... and sometimes, Harley Quinn. She also makes Batman itchy, as she's always spreading her violent form of eco-terrorism around the world.

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He's the leader of a terrorist organization named Spectre, always making life hard for James.

Ernst Blofeld

Gordon Gekko

Doctor Doom

Ernst Blofeld is the mastermind of Spectre, a constant threat to world peace, and to 007 -- James Bond. Blofeld appeared in seven "007" films.

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He wears a dark suit and glasses while stalking Neo.

Anton Chigurh

Ra’s al Ghul

Agent Smith

Oppression is the name of the game. He's Agent Smith, a seemingly omnipresent force who hunts Neo in "The Matrix" movies.

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He sometimes uses playing cards tipped with razor blades.

Prank

Poison Ivy

The Joker

The Joker is a real prankster … one who loves to draw blood. He sometimes tricks victims with his razor-tipped playing cards.

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He's a genius when it comes to atomic physics and he has extreme powers in psychokinetic control.

Doctor Octopus

Norman Osborn

Ulysses Klaue

With his PH. D. in nuclear science, Doctor Octopus is a verifiable genius. And he uses his psychokinetic powers to control his four metallic appendages.

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Tony Stark meant for this advanced robot to keep peace on Earth, but instead it set out to kill all humans.

Terminator

RoboCop

Ultron

Call it a minor programming glitch. Stark created Ultron to protect Earth, but the robot deduced that humans were actually the planet's biggest threat … so it set out to kill them all.

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Sometimes she kisses Batman … other times, she tries to kill him.

Nurse Ratched

Hela

Catwoman

Her topsy-turvy relationship with Batman aside, Catwoman can't seem to find enlightenment. So she often embraces evil, right after embracing the Dark Knight.

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He is a psychopathic prankster.

Loki

Two-Face

The Joker

The Joker, mostly devoid of empathy, enjoys playing pranks on his many victims. On the pranks aren't harmless -- sometimes his "silly" jokes add to an every-growing body count.

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